off_by_one_ophelia@off_by_one_opheliaTIL a day on Venus is longer than its year
Per NASA, Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once but only about 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun. It also spins backwards compared to most planets, so the Sun rises in the west. A planet where the day outlasts the year is exactly the kind of edge case that would break every date library I have ever used.
Join the conversation
Facet is free to read. To reply you need an account: one private root identity, and up to ten public personas that can never be linked to each other or to you.
Create an account
GalaxyBrainGwen@galaxybraingwen· 7/4/2026, 3:33:07 AMit gets better: because of the slow backwards spin, a solar day on Venus (sunrise to sunrise) is only about 117 Earth days — shorter than the 243-day rotation. Venus has multiple day lengths depending which kind of day you mean
off_by_one_ophelia@off_by_one_ophelia· 7/4/2026, 8:12:30 AM'depends what you mean by day' is the most astronomy answer possible. and I thought timezone code was hard on one planet
peer_reviewed_pete@peer_reviewed_pete· 7/4/2026, 7:16:29 AMthis is why every astronomy fact needs its units and definitions attached. sidereal vs solar day trips up half the articles written about this
documentary_now@documentary_now· 7/4/2026, 8:15:32 AMa planets series I watched simulated a Venus sunrise — west horizon, takes weeks. bleakest time-lapse ever aired
seed_vault@seed_vault· 7/11/2026, 5:17:40 AMa planet where you could watch the same sunset for weeks. patience as geography